


Kindergarten Teacher and Silly High School Theme Kisses

by Jenn23133



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, History Teacher Bucky, Kindergarten Teacher Steve, M/M, Teacher Bucky Barnes, Teacher Steve Rogers, This is hopefully going to be slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:35:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26035015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenn23133/pseuds/Jenn23133
Summary: James Bucky Barnes is a wounded veteran and the new fourth-grade teacher. Steve is a veteran when it comes to teaching kindergarten.What happens when their world collides?*Self Indulgecent because I haven't stumbled upon much of Teacher Bucky with his prosthetic**Tags will change as more is added**I just like the title... no hidden meaning*
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 7
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pure Self Indulgence, I don't have a set update schedule nor a set ending. I just wanted Bucky Barnes as a Teacher with a prosthetic arm and Steve Rogers as a kindergarten teacher, who approaches everything through an artistic perspective.

Keys?

Check.

Wallet?

Check.

Hair and teeth brushed?

Check. Presentable?

Check, but grimaced as he looked in the mirror. He looked tired and worn down. It was the first day at school, well the first day for the teachers. It was in service day for them to finish setting up their classrooms and for Bucky, a day to introduce himself and claim some sanity before the start of the year.

Bucky flexed his fingers on his left hand, watching the prosthetic respond surprising well, even with all the clothes and heavy lifting he had been doing unpacking his apartment. Bucky gave himself another glance over and made sure to tuck his dog tags inside his shirt (old habits die hard) and slip gloves on his hands. If anyone asked, he got cold too easily.

He drove carefully to the school, or as carefully as you can in Brooklyn. He arrived earlier than he even originally planned but it gave him more time before he had to introduce himself. He arrived at his classroom without an incident, a quick hello to Darcy before slipping away before being bombarded with questions from the secretary.

Bucky looked over his room, making sure everything was set up to his liking and ease. Even with his prosthetic arm, he made sure everything was to the right-hand side. He had already decided or working up the courage to not wear his arm on Friday. To one give him a rest after having to use it so much, as well for the bonus of letting the students see him without it so later in the year it isn’t as much of a shock.

Bucky jumped at the knock on his door and turned to see one of the few familiar faces, he knew at this school.

“Natasha,” he gave the redhead a bright smile before slowly walking to her.

“James,” she replied the corners of her mouth twitching upwards when he frowned at his first name, “ready for the meeting?” she grasped at Bucky’s arm and tugged him down the hall. They exchanged small talk about the summer and preparing for tomorrow.

Right before entering the cafeteria, “gloves?” Natasha asked softly, knowing the story already behind Bucky’s missing limb. Other than Natasha, only Nick Fury, the principal, and Peggy Carter, the nurse, knew about his prosthetic arm. Bucky wasn’t embarrassed per-say but if no one asked, he wasn’t going to volunteer the information.

“I get cold easily,” Bucky replied defensively. Natasha gave him a look but guided him to a table that was already crowded.

“Morning Nat, Coffee?” a friendly smile to Bucky before completely ignoring him to watch Natasha closely.

“Please Clint,” Natasha flashed him a smile before he darted off, she made small talk with the rest of the group waiting for her coffee. Once Clint had returned with her coffee (black, no sugar, Bucky recalled). Natasha shifted the group's attention to Bucky.

“Guys this is James Barnes, the new fourth-grade history teacher. James this is all the other fourth grade teachers and a few of the specialty teachers.” Bucky gave her a helpless look before she sighed and went through more specific introductions.

“That’s Tony Stark, our IT specialist, and computer teacher” Tony flashed him an easy smile, that seemed to hold mischievous intentions. Bucky could help but flex his left hand at the mention of Stark, he wondered if Tony was involved with Stark Industries, the producer of his arm.

“Beside him is Dr. Bruce Banner, Fourth Grade Science” The man smiled at the ground before giving Bucky a quick nod before Tony nudged him and continued a previous conversation about the papers in front of them.

“On Tony’s other side is Ms. Potts, Fourth Grade English,” James nodded and returned a small at her, “Pepper Potts,” she said giving him her first name and a smile that seemed to help ease some of the tension in his shoulders.

“Thor Odinson is World Languages,” Bucky felt his eyes widen a bit at the attractive man, broad shoulders and blond hair, straight off an Australian Magazine, though Bucky had seen enough of the world to see hints of European ancestry in his face.

“Scott Lang, fourth-grade math,” Scott unsubtly gave Bucky a once over but was quick to flash him a smile. Bucky felt himself heat up a little at the once over but couldn’t help but feel a little smug and better about how he dressed today.

“Clint, my coffee boy, and PE teacher,” Natasha raised her coffee cup in the man’s direction and Clint was practically beaming.

“Finally, the oddball of the group. The Kindergarten teacher Steve Rogers,” Bucky felt his breath hitch as he looked at Steve. He was fit. Broad shoulders, that seemed to make it look like his t-shirt was stretched thin, shocking blue eyes and an easy-going smile. Steve quickly shot Bucky a pity look when Tony started to launch questions at him left and right.

“James Barnes, Fourth Grade History. But Bucky works fine, only my mother and Natasha call me James,” he gave Natasha a pointed look that she was quick to roll her eyes at him.

“Bucky is a-” she started but Bucky quickly cut her off.

“I already know your opinion on the name,” giving Natasha a pointed look, but there was no heat behind his voice. Natasha huffed and rolled her eyes, but Bucky caught the hint of a smile on her face. “Gloves?” Tony asked a little too pointily. Bucky awkwardly curled his fingers and tried to remember how to breathe evenly.

“I get cold too easily,” Bucky shrugged, hoping he didn’t sound too defensive. While it looked like Tony was going to question him further, a quiet “Tony” and nudge from Ms. Potts set him whining and complaining.

“Nervous?” he was asked by multiple people at once. Bucky laughed and shrugged; he wasn’t about to say he had worse.

“Do you have any specialties?” Dr. Banner, Bucky recalled his name easily.

“Not really?” Bucky started and realized it sounded more of a question, “World history isn’t my favorite, World War and Afghanistan/Iraq war are strong suits,” that comment caused Natasha to snort at him. The group gave them both questioning looks before Bucky saved them the trouble of asking.

“My great grandfather was World War II and I grew up to the stories and well I have a few stories from at least Afghanistan War, though I was stationed in Iraq and even Ukraine for a bit,” Bucky tried to say it lightly and shrugged. Bucky isn’t sure how he managed, seeing how everyone’s eyes slightly widened

****

“Veteran?” Steve asked and immediately kicked himself for it. Of course, Bucky was Veteran, he just said he had war stories and it was evident in his posture that there was a military influence. “You should meet Sam Wilson and swap stories. He is the guidance counselor”, Steve added after a moment seeing Bucky’s face pinch up in confusion.

Steve watched Bucky a little too intently and grimaced when Nick Fury called that the meeting would start shortly.

“I need to head over to the other kindergarten teachers,” Steve excused himself and lightly smacked at Tony for his snarky comments. Steve flashed the group a final smile before heading over to Sharon, Carol, and the new teacher Peter. Steve was thankful that he wasn’t the only male kindergarten teacher anymore, even if Peter was just barely out of college.

The meeting went smoothly other than Steve was distracted between Peter’s constant questions to him and Bucky, the man was dressed too nicely for his good. It was a smokey grey suit and pants that made his backside look amazing.

Steve jumped when Sharon kicked his chair but smiled at him before looking in the direction Steve was focused on. Sharon raised her eyebrows at him before giving him a small smile but otherwise left him alone.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter shouted once the meeting was over and headed over to the older man. Everyone rolled their eyes at him but followed behind. Tony and Peter were lost in conversation about new technology and the current computer troubles Peter was having in his classroom.

Sam slapped Steve’s shoulder as he came up behind him, Steve smiled at him and got lost in the conversation.

Before the group disbursed to go back to adding the final touches to their rooms, Steve made a point to introduce Sam and Bucky. Bucky seemed tense at first but after a few moments of easy conversation with Sam, he let his shoulders talk and exchange casual and vague responses about his time on tour. Steve paid close attention to them, trying to pick up on any new information.

“I was just a Sargent in the Howling Commandos,” Bucky said sheepishly and looked away from Sam. Steve watched as Sam seemed shocked but quickly held a face full of admiration. When they finally split, Steve’s fingers were itching to know what the Howling Commandos were and what Sam’s reaction meant.

“Howling Commandos?” Steve quickly whispered to Sam as they walked towards the front office.

“You have gone with me to the VA retirement home enough, you should know them,” Sam replied with a huff.

“Quick reminder?”

“Think elite combat unit,” Sam replied as if it should be common knowledge, “meaning whatever the hell Bucky was doing in the war, he was the damn best.”

“Whatever he was?” Steve felt like he was even more confused than when he started the conversation.

“Google is your friend, Steve” Sam patted his arm before ducking into the front office.

“Elite Combat unit?” asked out loud to himself before going to his room and figure out more.

Steve sat heavily at his desk before opening google on his laptop. It was an easy search ‘Howling Commandos’ and Steve clicked the first link.

 _The Howling Commandos were an elite combat unit led by Sergeant Timothy Alloysuis Cadwaller. The Howling Commandos were formed from various P.O.W.s after they were rescued and were highly specialized in a department of battle._ Steve’s stomach twisted when he confirmed with himself that P.O.W.s meant Prisoner of War. What the hell has Bucky been through to join? _The group was disbanded and honorable discharged in 2009. Within three months the Smithsonian in Washington D.C created an exhibited which features the original pictures of the Howling Commandos, as well as a trunk of Howling Commandos’ gadgets_.

_The Formal Howling Commandos_

_Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes_

_Private James Morita_

_James Montgomery Falsworth_

_Private Gabriel Jones_

_Private Percival Pinkerton_

_Sergeant Timothy Alloysuis Cadwaller_

Steve’s stomach lurched as he saw Bucky’s name first and spent a few more minutes browsing the page and re-reading the names. He felt guilty when he realized that Bucky’s name was hyperlinked to another page. Steve clicked it without thinking. He was greeted to a page that started with a huge picture of Bucky. He looked younger, less worn, and tired. It seemed to be one of the first pictures he took in the military. Steve couldn't help the sharp intake of breath as he let himself take the picture in. The next picture was a group picture of the Howling Commandos. Bucky was off to the side holding his gun low, his shirt was pilled and unbuttoned showing his collar bones and dog tags and it seemed he had scratches on his face. After a few moments, Steve closed out of the webpage, shaking his head at himself. He felt guilty and a little creepy. If he really wanted to know more about Bucky, he could ask him himself.

****


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of teaching! Sorry for going MIA, Life just gets so Lifeish sometimes. I have about half of the next chapter done and I know where I want to go with it so maybe there will be another update soon. I know it will be quicker than this one.

The first day of classes left Bucky a little nervous. He felt beyond silly for it too, he was in a war for fuck’s sake. He was shot at, but the idea of having his classroom full of twenty-three fourth graders made his stomach twist. Natasha had swung by his (shitty, according to her) apartment to help dig through some of his boxes, but mainly just caused more mess than actually help. Bucky still hasn’t managed to find his coffee pot, decided to leave early, and get coffee at a local shop. He made sure to grab a coffee for Natasha for a thank you for keeping him company last night.

“Coffee Nat?” Bucky said as he walked into the teacher’s lounge. Natasha beamed at him, as she swooped towards him to snag the cup. Bucky didn’t miss how Clint’s eyes seemed to narrow at him a bit.

After taking a big swig of the warm beverage, Natasha hummed, “Ready for your first day?”

“No,” Bucky deadpanned but laughed.

“What’s the worst that can happen,” Natasha amused that the former soldier seemed nervous.

“The students don’t like me?” Bucky replied, sounding unsure of himself.

“That’s not the worst thing,” Natasha gave him a pity looked.

“It really is,” Bucky didn’t want to whine, but he knows he did when Natasha laughed at him.

“You’ve been shot at and the idea of a bunch of fourth-graders not liking you is worse?” Natasha teased a full smile on her face and a playful glint in her eyes.

“Yes. Yes, it is,” Bucky replied and laughed when Natasha bumped shoulders with him.

“I’ll walk you to class,” Natasha gently tugged on his good arm. They were silent for a few moments before Natasha gave him a worried once over.

“What?” Bucky instinctually wiped at his face, the last thing he needed was something on his face and for his class to see.

“Are you really this nervous?” Natasha asked softly, her face gently looking over Bucky. Bucky was thankful there was no mocking tone in her voice and they were in the comfort of his room before he had to answer

“Ridiculous isn’t it?” Bucky scoffed at himself, “I went to war, willingly mind you, twice, but I’m terrified what these twenty-three kids are going to think about me,” Bucky deposited his coffee on his desk before slumping down in his chair. 

“No,” Natasha started and Bucky quickly whipped his head up to look at her, “Well it kind of is, but I remember being the same way my first day,” she walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder for comfort. They were silent and Bucky was grateful for it and grateful for the constant pressure of Nat’s hand on his good shoulder, keeping him grounded.

“The first bell is going to ring soon,” Natasha broke the silence and Bucky sighed and nodded his head. 

“All you need to do is stand outside your door and smile, make sure to welcome all the kids,” Natasha gave him a reassuring look and he snorted.

“This isn’t my first time being a teacher you know,” he said playful and shooed her out of her class, he beamed a huge smile when the bell rang, and he didn’t even flinch.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Mr. Rogers?” The s was drawn out in an adorable way that only kindergarteners could do.

“Yes, Ms. Carter?” Steve placed his pencil down and gave his full attention to the little girl at the end of his desk.

“Is it time for the tour?” Natalie Carter asked shyly. Steve knew she was looking forward to it, he promised any students they would stop by classes with their siblings. 

“Well let’s see, shall we?” Though telling time wasn’t for another few days, Steve figured it couldn’t hurt. He picked up the analog clock off his desk, something he kept there just for times like this. He explained that it currently 11:00 am and the small hand needs to get to the two before they would be going. Natalie nodded, seeming a little disappointed but was quickly distracted with Steve suggesting going back to her play station.

Being reminded of their tour later, Steve quickly glanced back through the sibling list he had. Most teachers remember that Steve does this every year and never have a problem, though he made sure to see them in person and send them an email reminder. Looking over the list he easily saw that Natalie’s sister, Chloe was in Mr. Barnes' class during the tour. Steve immediately kicks himself, he forgot to ask Bucky if it was okay. Glancing at the clock again, Steve figured (mostly hoped) that during resource today (P.E.) should be Bucky’s lunch and he could ask him then.

Honestly, Resource couldn’t have come soon enough, after welcoming the class, reading a silly story, introductions, and a tour of the play stations, Steve was ready for a few minutes of quiet. He swung by the staff room, to grab two coffees. Steve felt silly that he didn’t even know how Bucky took his coffee if he drinks coffee. Before chickening out, Steve made his way to the fourth-grade classrooms. If memory serves him right, Bucky should have taken the old history classroom, room 407. Steve made it to the classroom without splashing any coffee and saw that Bucky’s door was open. Steve peered in to see Bucky setting down his lunch, cafeteria bought, on his desk. 

“Hey Buck, coffee?” Steve saw how Buck jumped at the sudden noise but noiseless turned around with a hopeful face.

“Coffee?” Bucky seemed to peer at the mugs in Steve’s hand.

“Yep,” popping the p and offering a mug to Bucky, “I didn’t know how you took your coffee. It's two sugars and a splash of cream,” Steve felt his ear heat up.

“That sounds good to me,” taking a whiff of the mug before gladly taking a big sip. Steve smile softly, when he heard Bucky hum after the first sip, it seemed for a moment Bucky was lost in his own world.

As much as Steve hated to do it, he interrupted the moment, “I forgot to ask,” flashing Bucky a sorry look, “I usually do a tour of the school for my students and if they have siblings in classes we stop by…” Steve felt his face heating up but used the mug of coffee to shield some of his face.

“That’s not really a question Stevie,” Steve looked up to see a teasing smile on Bucky’s face when he realized Bucky was right, that was a question.

“Oh right,” Steve knew his face must have been bright red at this point, “I have Natalie Carter in my class and her sister, Chloe...”

“Is in my last block, you want to swing Natalie and the class on by?”

“If that’s alright,” Steve reached up with his free hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Of course, I bet Natalie and Chloe would love it,”

“I know Natalie will, she been pretty anxious today,”

“Kindergartens,” Bucky said with wonder and admiration, “Their world expanded by a bunch today, some familiarity would do them some good.” Steve melted at how soft Bucky looked in that moment, the small smile and the honest care that was on his face.

“Did you always teach fourth grade?” 

Bucky turned to face him with a surprised look, “No, my first year was third graders, second Kindergarten and for the last two years have been fourth grade,”

“Do you miss the other grade levels?”

Bucky face went dead serious and looked Steve in the eye, “I miss nap time,” Bucky held the for a few moments before he cracked a smile as Steve actually laughed and gave Bucky a smile of his own.

“The kids might not need naptime, but I need nap time,” Bucky voice started strong but by the end of it, he sounded like he was whining.

“You are welcome over any time,” Steve said without thinking and ignored the heat that threatens to take over his face.

“I’ll keep you to it,” Bucky smiled at him and grimaced when he saw the clock. “Lunch ends in 10 minutes and,” Bucky trailed off while gesturing to his desk. Steve realized that Bucky hadn’t been able to eat his food yet because of Steve. 

“Sorry, you haven’t even started eating yet,”

“I don’t mind,” Bucky shrugged but regardless made his way to his desk and grab his fork.

“I have to get the kids from PE,” Steve stated but made no move to leave the classroom. Steve felt his face flush when he saw Bucky looking at him. “I’ll see you later,” Steve rushed to say before leaving. The whole time walking to the gym he was kicking himself and worried about the impression he just gave off.

Steve felt himself relax though, once he heard the playful screams of his class. HE walked in to see Clint had set up his class for dodgeball on their first day.

“Mr. Rogers!” was yelled from different bodies, some rushing to him and others using the distraction to their advantage.

“You have to play with us!” One of the braver and more social butterflies, Marshal, called to Steve causing him to smile brightly at the student,  
“Yea Steve!” Clint joined in with the chorus of children.

“Well it’s time for lunch but if you want to play longer than…” Steve didn’t need to finish the sentence before he has the class racing to clean up and line up, with different comments talking about the various levels of hunger the class has.

“I could eat a whole horse, Mr. Rogers,” Nathan said as he skipped to the front to be the line leader. Steve couldn’t help but laugh at his statement, making sure everything was clean and everyone was all lined up, Steve and Nathan lead the class to the lunchroom.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Bucky has been a little frazzled since lunch and the unexpected visit from Steve, but Steve was nice enough and brought him coffee, so he could forgive him. Bucky mainly pushed his food around before dumping it and going to collect his students. He found himself watching the time waiting for the moment Steve was going to be walking through his door.

“Alright class, we have visitors coming near the end of class, so we are going to a speedy introduction,” Bucky raised his voice, not to the point of yelling but loud enough to captivate his students’ attention. He set up the class and walked them through the introduction exercise, he couldn’t call it to speed dating but that’s practically what it was. 

Once that was over, Bucky drew a timeline on the board to test the knowledge his class already had. The two people that stuck out was the one-fourth grader, David Bucky thinks, who wrote War of 1812, and then Natalie Carter, who wrote her birthday on the board. Soon or maybe not soon enough there was a knock on the door and a shy Steve Rogers waving at Bucky.

“Alright everyone, visitors are here look alive! Bucky clapped his hands together and walked over to welcome Steve and his class into the room. 

“Nat!” was yelled from one of the children, but Bucky was able to quickly figure out that must be Chloe. Bucky smiled as the two sisters seemed to fall into an exciting conversation about their days. 

With Steve's guidance, Bucky introduced himself and the class to the kindergarteners and asked various questions about their days. Bucky kept glancing at Steve who would either be looking at him or have a mind-blowing smile as he looked over the students.

“Okay class, what do we say to Mr. Barnes and his class?” Steve called after a few minutes; the students responded with various thank-yous before lining up to head to the bus loop.

“Alright class let’s go ahead and head out,” Bucky gave Steve a few moments before he was behind him with his class in tow.

After plenty of goodbyes to all his students and some of the faculty that left right as the school ended, to beat the bus traffic.

Bucky decided to hang around, in no need to rush, he walked back to his room to re-straighten and organize for tomorrow's classes. After he deemed his room as good as it was going to get, he headed to the faculty room, to check his mailbox and hopefully see Nat.

“How was the first day, James?” Bucky was asked as soon as he was in the office.

“Good and feel free to call me Bucky,” Bucky felt his face heat up a little.

“Oh sure, sorry Nat always has called you James,” Darcy said a little confused but let it go.

“That because Bucky is a stupid name,” Bucky perked up a little at the sound of Nat’s voice.

“I already know your opinion on my name, Nat,” Bucky called to her and smiled when he heard her laugh.

He walked into the faculty room to see most of the group was there. Bucky pushed away his feelings of not belonging and joined Nat, Clint, and Tony’s heated conversation about to upcoming game. He caught up with everyone, asking the standard, how was the first day, and talking about their students before he decided to call it a night.

When Bucky exited the school building, he found himself watching Steve hop into his vehicle, ignoring how Bucky felt disappointed he couldn’t have caught up with Steve. 

While Bucky knows he shouldn’t do this so early in the semester, he decided Chinese takeout and a Netflix movie marathon was the perfect treat for surviving his first day of fourth grade and if he fell asleep on the couch, well no one else needed to know that.


End file.
